Brew Brain Blog

For my next beer review, I offer Alaskan Amber from the Alaskan Brewing Co.

I found this beer on the shelf at my local Safeway store. I’ll get pictures of all the bottles next to the beer in a mug at some point. The label on this bottle particularly appeals to me. I’m an avid fan of “Deadliest Catch” on Discovery Channel these days. It’s a documentary series about the Alaskan crab fishing seasons, and it is absolutely must-see television. I’ve also had the good fortune to have visited Alaska on two occasions, once puking my guts out on a fishing boat in the gulf. Ah, but that is my only negative memory of that state, not that I saw anywhere close to anything but a small sliver of it.The label is an illustration of a fishing boat on the water with snow-filled mountains in the background. It is very simple, but for me captures what that state and its people are all about. It is pure wilderness - even Anchorage is spread out and broken up by pockets of moose-inhabited woods. And the people just live in and with it. It is quite a place.

Anywho, on to the beer:

The label calls this an “alt” style beer. That’s a new one on me. Their web site describes alt (and I’m paraphrasing here) as an ale fermented more slowly and at colder temperatures than most ales, which contributes to its overall balance and smoothness.

How did they do? In a word, terrific!

Appearance: The beer pours a nice, rich amber color. The tan head was thin, but I think I poured too much down the side, leaving too little for the middle of the glass. I’ll try again in the next couple days and update if I get a different result. It was mostly clear and bubbled nicely.

Smell: Not a whole lot happening here. I got very light fruity scents, but not really much to write about. What there was, was pleasant enough.

Taste: The taste really followed the smell. No surprises here. The malt flavor was very light. So light in fact, I’m having a difficult time deciding what I taste. I think I’ve settled on light caramel mostly. There is not a lot of hops following up, but there doesn’t need to be much to balance things out. It is a very balanced, smooth beer with not much of an aftertaste.

Mouth Feel: This is a light/medium bodied beer. The carbonation is right on. The beer starts out mild and finishes mild. No roughness to this one at all.

Overall: I have a difficult time not sounding negative when I don’t get a ton of flavor, so let me say right now that I like this beer a whole lot. It does nothing to displease. The smell does not give a bad first impression, and I tasted no foul or off flavors at all. It is what I call a “safe” beer. What I mean is, it takes no chances. It does not try to get noticed in any way. It is simply a very smooth, balanced, nice brew. I personally prefer a beer to try to get my attention somehow, but if they geared their beer towards my particular tastes, they’d sell a whole lot less of it. This one will appeal to the masses. I just noticed their web page on this beer claims it is a “good beer for the first time micro drinkers as well as seasoned connoisseurs”. I agree completely. I also think this would be an excellent “meal” beer. It will not overpower or foul up flavors of most foods. I believe the brewer got exactly what they were after.

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